


I Like It When We Play 1950

by Screamscaro



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: AU, Alcohol, Drama, Drug Use, Explicit Language, F/F, Family Drama, Flashbacks, Fluff, Humor, Inspired by Music, Little bit of smut, Music, Some of everything, alternative universe, angst in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:13:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24978976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Screamscaro/pseuds/Screamscaro
Summary: The story of a rising star, her guitar, her old man and her love.Ellie never thought that one song could change everything.-Ellie is the foster child of old and former musician Joel Miller, who has now retired to smaller gigs and a calmer lifestyle.When Ellie’s talent is being discovered and she decides to follow in Joel’s footsteps, the trials and tribulations of surviving in the spotlight of her new career, coping with her past and falling in love all seem to creep up a lot quicker than she knows how to handle them.(AU - Alternative Universe)
Relationships: Dina & Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us), Ellie/Joel (The Last of Us)
Comments: 38
Kudos: 146





	1. Friday Night

“ _Maybe it's time to let the old ways die,_  
 _maybe it's time to let the old ways die.._  
 _It takes a lot to change a man,_  
 _hell, it takes a lot to try.._  
 _Maybe it's time to let the old ways die.._ ”

The sound of guitar strings, chattering and clinking glasses fill the bar at the corner of the street. It’s a busy night full of life, music and booze, a typical Friday.

People are standing around a small stage, watching an older man perform a slow song with his instrument. Some are cheering, some are listening quietly, some are simply ignoring his singing and talking to each other, nothing new.

_“I'm glad I can't go back to where I came from._  
 _I'm glad those days are gone, gone for good.._  
 _But if I could take spirits from my past and bring' 'em here,_  
 _you know I would.. you know I would._ ”

Ellie nods her head to the music, quietly mouthing the words as the singer continues to sing , before someone taps her shoulder, making her turn around on her barstool.  
She has to lean against the counter to be able to look underneath the different kinds of glasses hanging from the shelf above her, so she can see who needed her attention.

“Your beer”, the young woman behind the counter says with a smile as she places the beer mug in front of her customer. She grabs a pen from her pocket and adds a cross to the paper coaster, drawing a small smiley face next to it.

Ellie chuckles.  
“Does that mean this one’s on the house?”  
The woman in front of her laughs.  
“Keep dreaming, I need the money. I just wanted to see your smile once in a while.”  
The bartender rests her elbow on the counter, getting a little closer so they don’t have to shout over all the background noises.

“I’ve seen you here every single time Joel Miller is playing, but you never really seem that entertained”, she continues, raising an eyebrow, “Are you a groupie or something? You seem a little young for his usual audience.”  
With a nod she mentions towards the crowd of middle aged and older beer-bellied men, laughing drunkenly and clinking their glasses.  
“Yeaaah, nope”, Ellie responds dryly, shaking her head with an awkward smile, “He wished he had groupies.”

She picks up her mug before taking a sip of the cold beverage.  
“Are you his daughter or something?”, the bartender asks, “Maybe a niece?”  
“Nah, nothing like that”, Ellie says, putting her beer down, “Well, I live with him, but we’re not related. He took care of me when I needed him, I take care of him. He’s a good guy.”

“Okay, but with ‘taking care’ you don’t mean.. in THAT way, do you?”  
Ellie just stares at the woman, a mix of disbelief and disgust written all over her face.  
“... What the fuck is wrong with you?”  
The bartender bursts out laughing, throwing her arms around herself.  
“I’m kidding!! Jeez..”, she says between giggles.

Ellie can’t resist that contagious smile, no matter how hard she tries to look offended.  
“You better be, I almost smacked you”, she says in a low voice, but her small smirk gives her away.  
“Do I need to get the bouncer?”, the woman asks, being just as bad at pretending to be serious as she fails miserably to hide her grin.  
“Don’t worry..”, Ellie says, now turning around again to look back at the singer.

“ _Maybe it's time to let the old ways die,_  
 _maybe it's time to let the old ways die.._  
 _It takes a lot to change your plans,_  
 _hella drain to change your mind.._  
 _Maybe it's time to let the old ways die.._  
 _Oh, maybe it's time to let the old ways die.”_

The music stops after he plays his last chord. The crowd applauds and whistles as the man gets up from his chair, a small smile on his face as he gives them a little wave.  
“Thank you”, he mutters before he steps down from the stage, walking to the corner where his belongings wait for him.

“Oh man, that was the last song and I didn’t finish my beer”, Ellie talks to herself, lifting her mug in order to chug it.  
After a few big gulps she turns around to face the counter again when she suddenly makes direct eye contact with the bartender who, to her surprise, is still in the same close distance she was in earlier, smiling at her from ear to ear.

Completely caught off guard, Ellie chokes on her beer, immediately putting it down and coughing while spilling some on her shirt in the process. Heat rises to her face as she tries to play it off, but the woman’s smirking expression doesn’t help her situation, making her blush even more.

“No need to impress me, I’ve seen it all”, she says, taking a rag from the sink and handing it over to her, “There you go.”  
“Thanks”, Ellie mumbles in embarrassment as she tries to wipe her clothes.

In that moment the singer approaches the counter with his guitar on his back and his jacket under his arm, patting Ellie’s shoulder.  
“You making a mess again, kiddo?”  
With a big roll of her eyes she shoves his hand away.  
“Don’t.”

“That was a good night, Joel!”, another bartender shouts over the noise, leaning over the counter to shake his hand.  
“Thanks”, Joel says with a smile, “Are we gonna see each other again next Friday?”  
“About that”, the guy says, moving his head from side to side, “The band that was supposed to play tomorrow called this afternoon, they.. ‘won’t be able to make it’..”.

“Sure”, Ellie thinks.  
They just found a nicer place to perform instead of this little bar.

“If It’s okay for you and if you’re free, do you wanna fill in for tomorrow?”  
“You think those people who come here to see their favorite band will be okay with seeing me instead?”, Joel says with a small chuckle, “Yeah, right.”

“Come on, pleeaase!”, the bartender pleads him, walking around the counter until he’s right in front of him, “I’ll pay you double.”  
Joel sighs knowingly.  
“That’s gonna be hell to pull of.. “, he mutters before he finally nods, “.. Alright. Deal.”  
“YES, thanks man!”, the bartender exclaims, patting his back, “I owe you!”  
Joel scoffs at him.  
“You’re damn right you owe me!”

Ellie turns his head towards the man.  
“You wanna go?”  
“Aren’t you gonna finish that?”, Joel asks, pointing at her beer.  
“I really don’t want you sitting on my back until I’m done”, Ellie says, reaching for her pocket to get her money, “How much is it gonna be?”

“One and a half finished, half spilled?”, the young woman asks her teasingly, “Eight Dollars.”  
That girl just won’t let her go like that.

Joel knocks on the counter, readjusting his guitar on his back before he steps away.  
“Finish you drink, kiddo, that’s just a disgrace. I’ll see you at home.”  
“Are you sure you don’t need help with your stuff?”, Ellie looks after him as Joel makes his way towards the exit.  
“I’m sure, don’t worry. Don’t get into trouble!”  
“I’ll make sure she won’t!”, the bartender shouts before grinning at Ellie.

Ellie looks at her with a mix of surprise and amusement, a smile following.  
“You’re a cheeky one, aren’t you?”  
“What makes you think that?”, the woman says, turning her body a little and trying to look as innocent as possible from the corner of her eyes, before she laughs and offers Ellie her hand, “The name’s Dina.”  
“Ellie”, Ellie says, shaking her hand.

“So, Ellie”, Dina says, reaching for the unfinished beer on the counter, “Want to finish that?”  
Ellie shrugs, “I don’t know, maybe-..”  
She watches in astonishment as Dina takes the mug and finishes the rest of her beer within seconds.  
With a sweet smile she walks over to the sink and washes the glass, making sure that Ellie is watching her.

“Aren’t you still working?”, Ellie asks, resting her upper body on the counter.  
“Well, TECHNICALLY I am, but my shift ends in like thirty minutes sooo.. It’s not the first time I’ve done it and everything was okay.”  
Ellie shakes her head in disbelief, smiling to herself.  
“I wonder how you’ve kept your job like that.”  
“Um, cause I’m amazing?”, Dina remarks, filling the clean mug with fresh beer, “Here.”  
“Thanks.”

Dina makes herself comfortable against the counter, taking her pen out to add another cross to Ellie’s roaster.  
“Hey, wait”, Ellie interferes, “You really are sneaky, is this how you wrap the customers around your finger?”  
Dina shrugs before raising her pinkie finger, smiling at her.  
“I don’t know.. Is it working?”  
Ellie crosses her arms in front of her, her smile growing slowly.  
“... Hm. Maybe.”

“Hey Sweetheart, don’t ignore us, we want drinks too!”, a voice shouts from the other side of the bar.  
Immediately Dina straightens her back before walking over to the men who called her.  
“Right here!”

Ellie takes a sip of her beer, watching Dina write notes on their coasters before she makes her way to the lower cupboards to get what they asked for.  
She bends down to get a bottle of schnaps from the back of the cupboard, careful not to hit anything else inside of it over.

A flash catches Ellie’s attention, turning her head to the direction where it came from.  
The men look at one of their phones, all laughing and moving their fingers along the screen.  
“Damn”, one of them says, “Zoom a little right here.”  
“Show me, show me!”, another guy tries to whisper but his drunken voice makes it loud enough for everyone to hear.  
The man turns his phone so not only him, but also Ellie can see his screen from across the bar.

Without hesitation she gets up from her chair, walking over to them and getting right in the man’s face.  
“Delete it”, she says in a calm but stern tone.  
“Delete what?”, the guy says with a chuckle, putting his phone away so nobody can see.

“You know exactly what, so fucking delete it”, Ellie repeats, looking right into his face, not breaking eye contact.  
The man looks from his left to his right, all of his buddies shrugging their shoulders and pretending to be oblivious.

“Show me your phone”, Ellie says, holding her hand out but the guy only gets up from his chair, planting himself in front of her to intimidate her.  
“Why don’t you just fuck off?”, he says, trying to shove her away.  
“The picture you took, delete it!”  
“Turn around and fuck off, you little whore.”

Without even thinking about it Ellie lands a punch right on his nose, making him turn around and groan in pain.  
“Fucking bitch!”  
Immediately the other people in the bar swarm the two of them, trying to keep them away from each other.  
“No, you’re a bitch, just look at yourself!”, Ellie tells him, trying to get to him when suddenly somebody pulls her away.

“Ellie, stop”, Dina says, leading her behind the counter.  
“He took pictures of you!”, she tells the bartender, anger in her voice, “What an asshole.”  
“I’m used to it”, Dina mutters, taking her to the small kitchen in the back of the bar before letting out a little chuckle, “He was twice your size, did you really think you could beat him up?”

“I don’t care about size, he was being a little bitch”, Ellie says, almost pouting as she is being placed on a chair by Dina.  
“Let me take a look at your hand”, Dina says, kneeling down in front of her so she can have a closer look.

Ellie stifles a hiss when Dina moves Ellie’s fingers, tracing the knuckles.  
“Yup, you gotta cool that before it swells.”  
She gets back up from the ground to walk over to the freezer, grabbing a bag of ice.

“I’m fine”, Ellie says as Dina places the ice on her hand, “It’s not that bad.”  
“Just let me cool it, don’t be a brat.”  
Ellie looks at her.  
“Did you just call me a brat?”  
“Yeah, cause you’re acting like one!”  
Both of them chuckle before they sit in silence for a moment.

“Man..”, Ellie mutters after a while, “Must be annoying if you’re used to it.”  
“It is annoying”, the bartender says with a nod, “Every night there are super chill customers and then there are drunk assholes. It doesn’t surprise you anymore.”

“I’d be so pissed off”, Ellie admits, watching how carefully Dina presses the cooling ice against her hand, “I wouldn’t even want to come anymore.”  
“Well, I meet people like them, but I also get to meet people like you.”

With that she looks up at Ellie.  
This time there is no hint of sarcasm or cheekiness, just a sincere and honest smile.  
For the first time Ellie actually notices how beautiful the other woman is with her dark curls, her warm eyes and the cute freckles on her skin.

“Why don’t we just go?”  
“What?”  
“Let’s go, I’m tired of this shift and I could really use something to eat!”, Dina tells her, getting up from the ground and pulling Ellie with her.

“Aren’t they going to wonder where you went?”, Ellie asks, smiling with amusement when Dina reaches for a roll of tape laying on the table, before using it to tape the bag of ice to her hand.  
“They’ll manage without me”, Dina says, opening the door in the back of the kitchen that leads directly outside, “Come on, let’s just go.”

-

“Two kebabs, please!”, Dina orders at the small hut around the corner, “Mine with everything except onions.”  
“What about you?”, the man in the hut asks Ellie as he takes two tortillas from the heater.  
“Everything except chillies, please.”  
While they both wait for their food, they step away from the counter to sit down at the sidewalk.

“We are truly blessed that they are open all night, I love this place!”, Dina says as she makes herself more comfortable on the hard pavement.  
“True that”, Ellie agrees with a nod before she turns her hand, chuckling softly at the wet bag trying its hardest to cling onto her hand, “Can I take it off now, it’s kinda disgusting.”  
“Nope!”, Dina says, smacking Ellie’s other hand that was reaching for the tape, “Hands off, let it cool a little longer.”  
“Okay okay, fine.”

They sit for a while, looking up at the starlit sky as they listen to the sizzling food being prepared behind them.  
It’s nice, so simple and yet very nice.

“I’m sorry, but I’m curious..”, Dina starts, turning her head towards Ellie, “You have to explain your relationship to Joel to me. You said he took care of you?”  
Ellie leans forward, crossing her arms on her knees and resting her head on top, looking at Dina.

“You know that he was in a band right?”  
“Without Dignity?”, Dina asks, “Of course I do.”  
Ellie nods.  
“Yeah, well.. I met him almost seven years ago, when I was.. Thirteen, or fourteen or something.”

-

“Why did you take her with you?”  
“My wife couldn’t find someone to look after her today, but she can be quiet, don’t worry about it.”

Ellie raises her hand, waving awkwardly as she greets the other band members.  
“Hey”, she mutters, giving them a half hearted smile.  
Rob told her that she has to stay with him during band practice.  
Usually she just stays at home, watches tv or sits in the garden, but her foster mother said that she has invited some of her friends and ‘wouldn’t be able to watch over her’.  
Mhm, sure shit.

“For how long has she been with the two of you again?”, one of Rob’s friends asks, reaching for his bass.  
“Almost a month”, he tells him before letting out a sigh, “The state pays well though, I gotta say.”

Ellie decides to look around, she has heard all of that before many times.  
The agency pays a fostering allowance for each child which is meant to be for day to day care. On top of that they pay the carers a professional fee and all together they receive at least five hundred bucks. A week.

“It’s a nice income”, Rob mumbles before he sits down at his drum set, reaching for his sticks, “She’s only here today, but next week I’ll make sure she-.. Hey kid! Don’t touch that!”

Ellie takes a step away from the guitars mounted to the wall, raising her hands in defense.  
“Jeez, sorry..”, she mutters.  
“Those are expensive!”, Rob tells her loudly, “If one of them falls down I have to get a new one!”  
“I didn’t even touch them”, Ellie whispers under her breath before she sits down on the sofa in the corner, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Come on, Robbie..”, another one of his friends, the guitarist, tells him quietly, “Let’s just practice, okay? No need to yell.”  
Rob raises his eyebrow at him.  
“Are you trying to tell me how to talk to MY foster child, Joel? Just cause you used to have a daughter doesn’t make you any better than me!”  
“Rob..”, the bassist says quietly, his eyes wide.

The guitarist, who’s name seems to be Joel, stares at him in disbelief, looking like he just got hit by a pile of bricks. The grip on his guitar seems to tighten and his jaw clenches visibly.  
Ellie can see the blank expression on his face, obviously having so many thoughts hidden behind it.  
He nods slowly, clearly processing what just happened.

“On second thought”, he says, louder this time, “I think I’ll be skipping today. Have a good day everyone.”

He throws his guitar over his shoulder, grabs his bag and storms towards the door.  
Ellie tries to read his face. A mix of anger, pain and sadness. Are there tears in his eyes?

The man stops in his tracks when his eyes land on Ellie.  
He presses his lips together, taking a deep breath.  
Ellie swallows, not sure what’s going to happen.  
Is he going to yell at her too?

Joel turns around, reaching for the mounted guitar that Ellie was looking at before and handing it over to her.  
“Here”, he says quietly, looking at her, “Now you can have a closer look without it falling from the wall.”

Ellie looks at him.  
There ARE tears in his eyes.

She carefully takes the guitar, looking at the polished wood and the beautiful guitar strap.  
Running her fingers along the strings, she strums them softly, enjoying the clear sound they make.  
Without even looking, she can practically HEAR Rob rolling his eyes.

When she turns her head to thank Joel, he is already gone, the door of the exit wide open like he didn’t even look back.  
“Huh..”, Ellie thinks silently.

-

“Calm down, I’m on my way!”, Ellie can hear him shouting from the other side of the door, his voice so loud that it even drowns out the rain pouring down on the front porch of the farmhouse.

He opens the door, rubbing his eyes when he tries to identify the person in front of him.  
“.. Aren’t you Rob’s little fosterling?”  
“I’m not his.. ‘little fosterling”..”, Ellie says, shaking her head and crossing her arms around her chest.

Joel looks even more confused.  
“What the hell are you doing here, how did you even know where I live?”  
Ellie shrugs.  
“You’re soaked”, Joel says.  
“Well..”  
She turns around looking at the heavy rain behind her.  
“It’s.. raining.”  
“Ah..”, Joel says with a nod.

They just stand there for a few long and very awkward seconds.  
“I, um..”, Ellie starts, looking down at her feet, “... Can I come in?”  
“Sure..”, Joel says, rubbing the back of his head as he steps aside, “Come on in..”  
“Thanks..”

Ellie walks inside, making sure to take her shoes off on the doormat.  
Joel closes the door, walking over to the messy kitchen table where a bunch of photos, papers and leftovers are starting to pile up.  
He hurries to stuff the paper in a box while he just pushes the leftovers to the side.

Ellie wants to walk over to him when suddenly a loud bark scares her, making her jump in surprise.  
A big dog runs towards her, barking loudly and wagging its tail as its big, floppy tongue hangs out of its mouth.

“Josie, sit!”  
The dog sits down immediately, but stays just as excited, looking up at Ellie.  
“Hello”, Ellie says, carefully patting Josie’s head, but quickly moving it away when the dog tries to lick it.

“U-um..”, she stutters, still a little unsure.  
“Come on, girl”, Joel calls her over, petting her back before he gently takes her by the collar and leads her to the dog bed beside the couch.  
Ellie watches him before she walks over to the kitchen table.

“Sorry about that, she gets very excited around visitors”, Joel tells her after Josie laid down in her bed, “Did she scare you?”  
“What? Oh, no no, it’s fine”, Ellie reassures him.

“Do you want something to drink?”, Joel asks, walking to his fridge, “Water, lemonade, coffee, tea?”  
“No, I’m good, thank you..”, Ellie declines politely, wrapping her arms around her body as she watches him.

Joel nods.  
“Okay.”  
He turns around and leans against the kitchen island, looking at the girl.  
“So what happened? Does Rob know you’re here?”  
Ellie shakes her head.  
Joel waits for an explanation but Ellie seems to stay quiet.

“Sooo, what?”, he keeps asking, “Did you run away or something?”  
“Pff, no?”, Ellie says, but she can see Joel’s knowing glance staring her down.  
“... Okay, yes. I ran away.”

Joel sighs, rubbing his forehead.  
“So what do you want me to do?”, he asks, “Why did you come here?”  
“I..”, Ellie starts, “.. don’t know.”  
Joel takes his phone, shaking his head.  
“I’m gonna call Rob.”  
“No no no, please!”, Ellie interrupts him, rushing towards him and grabbing his wrists, “Please don’t. He probably hasn’t even noticed.”

“You want me to call the police instead?”, Joel asks, “The agency? Do you want them to take you home, make a whole big hassle out of this?”  
“No”, Ellie says, shaking her head, “Please, just-..”  
She sighs.  
“Just one night, okay? Please just let me stay one night and I’ll be gone tomorrow morning before you know it.”

Joel just looks at her, probably still trying to figure out what the hell is going on.  
“I’ll be on my way and you won’t hear from me again.”  
“Where are you planning on going?”  
“I.. I have places, just don’t worry about it.”

The man puts his phone down.  
“You’re a twelve year old girl, what kinda places do you want to go?”  
“I’m fourteen”, Ellie remarks, crossing her arms.  
“You’re still a little girl..”

Ellie takes a deep breath.  
“Please. I’m old enough to take care of myself.”  
She looks down at her feet.  
“I don’t wanna go back to the agency again”, she continues, “I’m not dumb, they can smear as much fucking honey around my mouth and tell me someone’s gonna adopt me someday, but it’s ridiculous. I’m not a cute baby or toddler, my chance is long gone.”

Joel watches her attentively.  
“Well, you’re for sure not gonna get adopted if you’ll keep swearing like a fucking sailor.”  
“Ahahaha, yeah, fuck you too.”  
They both chuckle quietly before returning back to silence.

Ellie looks at him, her eyes fixed on his.  
“Please”, she repeats, “Just let me stay one night. Don’t call Rob or the cops or the agency I just.. I know what to do.”

Joel keeps looking at her, not saying anything.  
After what felt like minutes, he lets out a big sigh before nodding softly.  
“... Okay.”

-

“He gave me some of his daughter’s clothes, a blanket and he let me sleep on the couch”, Ellie says, still stuck in her memories, “I wanted to leave the next morning but he wouldn’t let me.”  
Dina nods, listening to every word.  
“Turns out he called the agency when I was asleep and told them about the whole situation. Said he would take care of me until someone wants to adopt me, but oh well..”  
Ellie chuckles.  
“Since I’m still with him we know how that went.”

Dina smiles sympathetically.  
“He really is a good guy.”  
“He is.”  
Ellie nods, returning Dina’s smile.

“The next morning he called Rob and the others and told them that he would quit the band without giving them or the media a real reason. He had so much shit coming afterwards, people were hella pissed.”  
“I heard of that”, Dina says with a nod, “My mom was a huge Without Dignity fan.”  
“They had many fans, yeah.”

Ellie stretches her legs, letting out a satisfied groan at the feeling.  
“Oh well, he could still manage on his own as a solo artist”, Dina adds with a shrug.  
“That’s true”, Ellie agrees, “He went on one or two tours around the states before the whole hype was over. He took me with him and it was amazing.”

Ellie smiles softly.  
“The whole entourage was so cool, they were very nice and we had a lot of fun. He taught me how to play guitar and every evening we would play together, sing his songs and I watched him write new ones. We had a good time.”  
Dina returns the smile.  
“That’s nice to hear. I bet it was.”

“Two kebabs ready, young ladies!”, the man from the hut yells, putting the tinfoil wrapped food on the counter.  
“Got it!”, Dina responds, getting up from the sidewalk, but Ellie grabs her by the wrist.

“No no, I got it. I didn’t even pay for my drinks.”  
She stands up and walks over to the hut, reaching into her pocket for her money.  
Dina follows her, bumping her hip into hers.  
“I thought we could pay separately, but okay. If you wanna turn this into a date, fine by me.”

The soft blush returns to Ellie’s face as she gives Dina her food.  
“Are you doing this on purpose?”  
“Doing what on purpose?”, Dina asks, unwrapping the kebab.  
“You know.. This”, Ellie tries to explain, “The whole.. flirty thing.”

Dina takes a bite, raising her eyebrow.  
“You don’t like it?”, she asks with her mouthful.  
“N-No, it’s not that I don’t like it”, Ellie stutters, her face getting even warmer, “See? You’re doing it again!”  
Dina laughs.  
“Not my fault you’re so easy to fluster!”

Ellie pouts playfully, hitting Dina’s shoulder with her in ice wrapped fist.  
“Ow!”, Dina exclaims, holding her shoulder before hitting Ellie in return, “Stop hitting me and eat your food!”

They return to their sidewalk and sit down, both of them digging into their kebabs like there is no tomorrow.  
“If Joel taught you how to play the guitar”, Dina starts, wiping the grease from her face, “Why are you never on stage with him?”

Ellie chews and swallows before chuckling to herself.  
“Don’t make fun of me but.. stage fright?”  
“Come on, that’s ridiculous”, Dina says, “People only use that as an excuse.”  
“It’s not”, Ellie says before taking another bite from her kebab, “I don’t want to be on stage with him, HE’s the artist and he knows how to entertain an audience. I would probably just freeze and die from embarrassment. His songs are the ones that people want to hear, mine are just.. I don’t think they speak to many people.”

“Wait, you even write your own songs??”, Dina asks, her eyes wide in excitement.  
Ellie closes her eyes.  
“Shit.”  
“You didn’t tell me you write your own songs!”  
“I should’ve just kept my fucking mouth shut.”

Dina moves closer to her, looking at Ellie like a child about to receive a new toy.  
“Pleeaase, show me one of your songs.”  
Ellie laughs.  
“Haha, nope.”  
“Come ooon!”, Dina says, nudging her with her elbow, “I literally SAVED you from being beat up back at the bar, you owe me!”  
“I don’t owe you shit!”, Ellie says between laughs, shaking her head as she continues to eat.

Without any time to react, Ellie feels Dina’s hand on her cheek, turning her head towards her so she has to face her.  
“Ellie”, Dina says, looking at her insistently, “I promise I won’t laugh or mock you or anything. I promise.”

Ellie is completely overwhelmed. Her eyes wander from Dina’s eyes, to her freckles, to her lips then back at her eyes.  
“Stop it”, she tells herself inside her head, “Stop it right now!”  
“Promise”, Dina repeats just as seriously.

Ellie rolls her eyes before rubbing her forehead.  
“I fucking hate you”, she mumbles before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper.  
Dina smiles triumphantly.  
“Nice!”

She unfolds the paper, looking at her notes and scribbles.  
“It’s something I thought of a while ago.”  
Dina looks at the paper curiously.  
“You always just keep that in your pocket?”  
“I wrote something down earlier when I was waiting for Joel to finally get ready.”  
“Damn, it’s actually a lot already”, she says, “How do you even get started? I could never do something like that.”

Ellie notices how close Dina actually is, her head almost resting on her shoulder.  
“Um, well”, she starts, pointing at her paper, “I always write down the things that just seem to be on my mind. Not everything is useful, but a good handful is.”

Listening attentively, Dina nods slowly, following Ellie’s finger as it moves over the paper.  
“The melody comes to me when I play guitar in my free time”, Ellie keeps explaining, “And with the melody come the chords. I always write them down first before I even add the words.”

_“I love it when we play 1950_..”, Dina reads from Ellie’s paper, her brow furrowed, “What does it mean?”  
Ellie smiles awkwardly.  
“Well, I think those who understand will understand, but for everyone else it’s free to interpret.”

“ _So bold, make them know that you’re with me, stone cold, will you miss me?_ ”, Dina keeps reading, “ _So tell me why my gods look like you, and tell me why it’s wrong.._ Damn, Ellie. Stuff like that just pops up in your head?”  
“Well I try to to make it sound nice together, but.. yeah.”

Dina nods, looking impressed.  
“Wow, I mean, that’s amazing!”  
Ellie shrugs.  
“Meh, it’s alright I guess.”  
“You should finish this song, I’d love to hear it one day!”

Ellie chuckles.  
“Keep dreaming.”  
“I mean it!”, Dina insists, “It it’s that easy for you, add a few lines right now!”  
“Uh huh, like, talk about how delicious this kebab is?”  
“For example!”, Dina says with a grin.

“You’re ridiculous”, Ellie says, shaking her head.  
“Okay, then what aboouut..”, Dina thinks, “Oh, can I add something? Something else about tonight?”  
Ellie shrugs.  
“Hit me.”

Dina folds her hands, resting her chin on top while Ellie watches her in amusement.  
“Hmmm, what about.. ‘ _I hate it when.. dudes try to chase me’_.”  
Ellie laughs, but Dina stays focused.  
“ _But I love it when you_..”  
“ _Try to save me?_ ”, Ellie finishes, earning an impressed smile.  
“With emphasis on TRY”, Dina says with a smirk, “ _cause I’m just a helpless lady._ ”

“That’s ridiculous”, Ellie mutters.  
“It’s not!”, Dina defends herself, crossing her arms, “Try it!”  
“ _I hate it when dudes try to chase me”_ , Ellie repeats, “ _But I love it when you try to save me cause I’m just a bad jokester who tries to make fun of Ellie and doesn’t even get her to be mad about it._ ”

“Perfect”, Dina says with a grin, “Write it down, print it, publish it, I’ll buy dozens of copies!”  
“You’d be the only one”, Ellie says, shaking her head with a small smile.  
“Would that be so bad?”

The both of them look at each other.  
Dina’s eyes are so full of sincerity, it’s almost shocking to Ellie.  
“No..”, Ellie says quietly, smiling to herself.

“Great!”, Dina says, “And you better get famous with it so I can brag that I made the famous Ellie-.. what’s your last name?”  
“Williams”, she adds with another small chuckle.  
“So I can brag that I made the famous Ellie Williams.. well.. famous.”

Ellie takes a pen out of her pocket, writing something down.  
“What you said earlier wasn’t that bad.”  
“Really?”, Dina asks with a happy smile, “If that’s so.. I have another idea!”  
“You do?”

Dina holds her hand out so Ellie can give her the pen and piece of paper, before she starts writing, making sure Ellie can’t watch her.  
“Perfect”, she tells herself after a few seconds, handing it back to Ellie who can now read it.

“Hey Dina, tonight was a lot of fun. If you wanna see me again, here’s my phone number.. open bracket, insert number here, close bracket..”, Ellie reads quietly, “Wow. Smooth.”

She takes her pen and writes her number down he before handing it back to Dina.  
“There you go.”  
“Wait, can I have this?”, Dina asks, “I was just gonna copy it, what about your song?”  
“Don’t worry about it”, Ellie says, waving her hand dismissively, “Keep it.”

The both of them get up from the sidewalk to throw the wrapping of the food away.  
Ellie checks her watch, her eyes widening.  
“Oh fuck”, she mutters, “My last bus will be there in three minutes.”  
“You should hurry up then”, Dina says, leaning against the side of the hut and looking at Ellie with a soft smile, “I can just walk home, it’s close.”  
Ellie nods, making sure all her belongings are with her.  
“Alright”, she says, approaching Dina to say goodbye, “It was so nice to meet you.”

She doesn’t know whether to shake her hand, to hug her, to just wave her hand. So she just stands there, her hand raised without knowing what to do.  
“Pleasure’s all mine”, Dina says, silently laughing at Ellie’s awkward stance.  
She moves away from the hut to wrap her arms around Ellie to give her a warm hug.

Ellie smiles at the sweet gesture, looking at the other woman’s face when she pulls away.  
“Until next time”, Dina mumbles as she takes a few steps back, not breaking eye contact.  
“Until next time”, Ellie responds, frozen in place, “Hope it will be soon!”  
“Yes, hopefully!”

They keep looking at each other for a few moment until Dina turns around to walk home.  
Ellie just keeps standing in place for a little longer, looking after her, until she notices that she actually has a bus to catch.

“Oh shit!”, she mutters, turning around as she runs along the sidewalk.  
That girl sure is messing with her head!


	2. Debut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the support I got in the comments, they mean a lot to me and really motivate me to keep writing! :)
> 
> Here’s the second chapter, I hope you’ll enjoy it!
> 
> (The songs I’m using are in the notes at the end so I don’t spoiler anything. I tried to time them so you can listen to them while you’re reading, so if you want to do that, go to the notes at the bottom :) )

Joel and Ellie walk along the sidewalk, shielding their eyes when they cross a corner and the light of the setting sun hits their faces.

“You still haven’t told me about yesterday”, Joel says, looking at the young woman next to him, “When were you home exactly?”

Ellie shrugs, looking at the horizon.

“I don’t know. Around 2? Half past 2? Something like that.”

“Did you stay at the bar the whole time?”, Joel keeps asking.

“Uh, no. Dina and I went to get a kebab afterwards and then I took the bus home.”

“Dina”, Joel says with emphasis, “Is that the name of the bartender you talked to last night?”

“Yup”, Ellie says with a nod, still avoiding his look.

“Interesting”, Joel mutters, “Did anything happen at the bar after I left?”

“What do you mean?”, Ellie asks, now looking at him.

“Did anything happen at the bar after I left”, Joel repeats in the same tone. 

Ellie rolls her eyes before looking away again.

“What is it with you and all these questions?”

“Just answer them”, Joel says, this time more sternly.

Ellie sighs.

“No, nothing happened! What was supposed to happen?”

Joel stops walking, making Ellie stop as well and turn around with a dramatic groan. 

“What?”, she asks, “Can we please just go to the bar?”

“Henry called me”, Joel says, “He wanted to know if you were alright since you got into a fight and punched a guy!”

Ellie crosses her arms in front of her chest, staring at the ground as she tries to think of an excuse. She opens her mouth, wanting to save herself, but quickly realizes that it’s pointless.

“.. What a little snitch.”

“Ellie, there’s no point in lying to me”, Joel tells her, the stern tone in his voice remaining, “You got into a fight?”

Ellie throws her hands into the air.

“These dudes were fucking perverts, they took pictures of Dina and were totally leching on her, it was disgusting!”

Joel rubs his forehead and lets out a long sigh before he starts walking again.

“Ellie, you can’t just start fights because of that. Especially not physical ones.”

“They deserved to be put in their place!”

“Yes, but not by you! End of story!”, Joel says, “They were probably drunk and wouldn’t have hesitated to hurt you.”

Ellie scoffs.

“They couldn’t, even if they tried.”

Joel looks back at Ellie, his voice a little calmer.

“You never know”, he says, “You gotta be more careful. It’s great that you stood up to them but please be smart enough to know your own strength and its limits.”

Ellie just stays quiet.

“Did they try to hurt you?”

“One of them did but only after I hit him.”

Joel looks down at Ellie’s crossed arms and at the bruise on her right hand.

“.. You hit him hard, didn’t you?”

Ellie chuckles slightly, still keeping her arms crossed.

“Fuck yeah I did.”

Joel tries his hardest not to crack a smile.

“Always use your whole arm, not just your fist”, he says.

“And always aim for the nose, eyes or neck”, Ellie finishes the sentence, “I know.”

The both of them keep walking, getting closer to the street where the bar is located.

“You know, you’re not in school anymore”, Joel tells her, “I was never mad at you, no matter how many times you got into fights with bullies at school, but now you have to accept that people are probably stronger than you.”

“Yeah, Joel”, Ellie says with slight annoyance in her voice.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, okay?”, he explains, “I know you’re very capable to defend yourself, but don’t provoke it.”

“I know, Joel”, Ellie mutters quietly, “I’ll try.”

As soon as they cross the corner of the street they were headed to, their eyes widen when they see the big crowd in front of the bar.

“Oh fuck.”

It’s at least double the amount of people that usually watch Joel play. 

“Yeah, fuck indeed”, he mutters, “That’s gonna be a fun night.”

They walk past all the people, none of them realizing that Joel is the one performing tonight, and make their way through the even more crowded bar.

On the stage Ellie can see a band waiting for them, another guitarist, a drummer and a bassist. Young dudes, probably a small band trying to make it in this town.

“Jesus”, Ellie mumbles as she squeezes herself through the people, making sure the guitar doesn’t get stuck anywhere. 

“You go ahead and tune her, I’ll be right there”, Joel tells Ellie, who finally made her way through.

“Alright!”

Ellie walks past the curtains on the stage, greeting the band with a small “s’up”, before she drops all the heavy bags on the floor as soon as she’s in the backstage area.

“Here we go.”

She takes out Joel’s guitar, carefully strumming each string before she sits down on the ground, the guitar in her lap so she can start to tune it.

Listening carefully, Ellie turns the tuners to either raise or lower the pitch of the individual strings until she is completely satisfied.

“Nice.”

Since Joel is probably still busy talking to the owner, she starts to play a little tune, humming along quietly.

This guitar is one of her favorites. A beautiful steel-string acoustic with a nice and clear sound, perfect for performing on stage. It was the same guitar that Joel used most of the times when he was still on tour, playing for thousands of people all over the states. 

It was also the one on which he taught her how to play when she was younger. She still remembers how the steel strings bruised her finger tips, but she never wanted to stop, no matter how much it hurt.

Joel was so proud. 

-

“I’m home!”, Ellie yells as she closes the door behind her, dropping her backpack on the floor and kicking her shoes into the corner, “Hello?”

She walks to the kitchen where she grabs a slice of the leftover pizza from the day before, then starts to look around for the guy who took her in half a year ago.

“Joel?”, she calls for him between bites, checking the living room, then the laundry room until she decides to go out the back onto the porch that leads to the garden where she finds him sitting on the stairs, playing on his guitar.

Josie, who has been sitting next to him, gets up as soon as she sees Ellie, panting happily and wagging her tail.

“Hello”, Ellie greets her with a smile and a gentle pat on the head, grabbing Joel’s attention.

“Oh, you’re back, I didn’t hear you”, Joel says, taking a short break from picking the strings to look at her, “How was school?”

“Meh”, Ellie just answers with a shrug as she sits down next to him. 

Josie lays down next to her, placing her head in Ellie’s lap and letting her stroke the fluffy fur behind her ears.

“Meh?”

“Yeah, meh.”

Joel nods slowly, contemplating whether he should ask any further, but decides against it in the end.

“Okay.”

They stay quiet for a while and Joel starts to play again, closing his eyes at the melody and humming along.

Ellie listens, watching his fingers and the way the strings move when they are picked.

“What are you playing?”

Joel looks at her, a small smile forming at the girl’s curiosity.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard it before”, he tells her, “It’s like.. twenty years old.”

Ellie smiles at him.

“Can you show me? I have practiced the other songs you taught me and I think I’m ready for a new one.”

“Well, sure!”

Joel reaches behind him where two other acoustics are laying and takes the smaller one of them. 

“I put some new strings on them”, he tells her as he starts to tune the guitar, “You’ll be the first to play with them.”

“Oh fuck yeah”, Ellie mutters to herself with a grin, taking the guitar when Joel hands it over.

Josie makes space for the instrument, barking at Ellie before letting out a whine.

“Stop being such a drama queen”, Ellie says as she points her finger at the dog before rubbing her head and giving her a small kiss on top.

Joel chuckles to himself.

“She helped you get over your fear of dogs pretty quickly, huh?”

Ellie scoffs. 

“I never had a fear of dogs.”

“Mhm, sure.”

Using her thumb Ellie strums every string once, listening to the sharp and clear tone.

“Nice”, she mumbles before readjusting the guitar.

“Mind the elbow”, Joel reminds her, moving Ellie’s arm further up and making the girl roll her eyes.

“Yeah yeah”, she groans. 

“Good”, Joel says when Ellie holds the instrument the right way, “Let me show you the song first.”

“Okay”, Ellie says with an excited smile. The smile quickly turns into a cheeky grin when she crosses her arms on the guitar to rest her head on top, ruining the posture Joel told her to hold earlier.

Joel just sighs, deciding to give up the fight.

Instead he starts to pick the strings, playing a soft and lighthearted melody.

Ellie watches him closely, smiling as she listens to him.

_ “If I ever were to lose you _

_ I'd surely lose myself.” _

Ellie moves her eyes from the guitar to Joel’s face.

_ “Everything I have found here _

_ I've not found by myself. _

_ Try and sometimes you'll succeed _

_ to make this man of me. _

_ All of my stolen missing parts _

_ I've no need for anymore.” _

Joel nods along, his eyes fixed on the strings.

_ “Cause I believe.. _

_ And I believe 'cause I can see.. _

_ Our future days.. _

_ Days of you and me.” _

He picks the melody one more time before he lets the last tone fade out.

Ellie readjusts herself, looking impressed.

“Damn”, she says quietly, “That was.. That was pretty good.”

Joel lets out a quiet and short laugh.

“Pretty good..”, he mumbles, “You wish you were that good.”

Biting her lip, Ellie hits his arm as hard as possible, making the man groan before he places his hand on her head and pushes her sohard that she falls on her back, making her laugh.

“You’re a brat”, Joel says as he watches Ellie regain her posture between laughs.

Ellie can see the sincerity and softness in his eyes, something she hasn’t seen before in any other household.

The people who she had to live with since she was a little girl, they were all probably a lot more organized and sophisticated than Joel, but for the first time she actually feels like someone looks at her with something else besides either apathy or pity.

Joel doesn’t want to prove anything to her and that gives Ellie the reassurance that she doesn’t have to prove anything to him either. 

They just coexist together without any pressure. 

And it feels nice.

Ellie likes it. 

A lot. 

-

“Knock knock.”

Ellie stops playing and looks up to see Dina right in front of her, a soft smile on her face.

“Hey”, Ellie greets her, returning the smile, “I didn’t know you had to work today, it was too crowded and I couldn’t see you at the counter.”

“Oh, I’m not working today”, Dina says, sitting down next to Ellie, “I just wanted to see Joel play.”

“Oooh..”

Ellie nods slowly, looking down at the guitar.

Dina chuckles, nudging her softly with her elbow. 

“I wanted to see you too..”

Ellie smiles, still looking at the guitar so Dina can’t see how happy she actually is to hear that.

Joel walks through the curtains, almost making the women jump.

“Alright”, he says, clearing his voice, “She tuned?”

“All ready for the stage”, Ellie says, standing up from the ground and handing the guitar over to him. 

“Thanks, kiddo.”

Joel takes a deep breath.

“Let’s do this. Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need it”, Ellie tells him, giving him a small smile before she makes her way past the curtains with Dina following her, “I’ll see you afterwards!”

As soon as the both of them leave the backstage area, the lights in the room start to dim, so the only light left is directed towards the stage.

The people start to cheer when Joel enters the stage, waving at them.

“Hello hello, everyone!”

“Come on”, Dina says, leaning towards Ellie so she can hear her, “We can sit down at the bar, I saved us two seats!”

She takes Ellie by the hand and starts to make her way through the crowd as the band starts to play.

Ellie hopes she doesn’t notice how sweaty her palms are.

When they reach their seats, Dina gives Ellie one of the two beers that were awaiting them.

“Here you go.”

“Damn, you came prepared”, Ellie says, taking the mug before clinking it with Dina’s, “Thanks!”

“No, worries”, Dina says with a smug smile, leaning back against the wall where they are sitting, “Just wanted to return the favor.”

Ellie turns her head when she hears Joel’s voice starting to sing. She has to admit, the band is doing a pretty good job and the audience seems to agree with her. People are cheering, whistling, clapping, it’s going well.

Joel deserves it.

“ _Black eyes open wide,_

_ it’s time to testify, _

_ there’s no room for life _

_ and everyone's waiting for you! _

_ And I'm gone, sitting by the phone _

_ and I'm all alone by the wayside!” _

“Damn, it’s nice to hear him with an actual band”, Dina says, nodding her head to the music, “He’s really good!”

“Definitely”, Ellie agrees. 

The way he is performing tonight reminds her of the times he used to be on big stages and sing his heart out.

“ _And I'm gone, sitting by the phone_

_ and I'm all alone by the wayside!” _

-

Tonight is going really well for Joel. Each song, no matter if loud and energetic or slow and calm, seems to thrill the audience and the energy in the room couldn’t be better.

Beer is flowing, people are enjoying themselves and the music is outstanding _._

_ “Maybe it's time to let the old ways die.. _

_Oh, maybe it's time to let the old ways die”_ , Joel finishes his last song, letting the last chord fade away before the people break out in applause.

“Thank you, thank you!”

Ellie and Dina are cheering along, watching Joel take a bow.

“I should help him pack up”, Ellie tells Dina, “I’ll be right back.”

Before she can slide down the barstool, Dina holds her arm.

“No, wait a second”, she says, making sure Ellie stays seated, “Let’s wait until he’s off stage.”

Ellie shrugs in confusion.

“Um, okay?”

“Thank you, everyone!”, Joel speaks into the microphone, letting his guitar hang next to his body, “You’ve all been incredible, I’m very thankful for your support and I hope I could entertain you tonight.”

The crowd responds with more loud applause and cheers, making the man smile.

“Thank you.”

He turns his head towards Dina.

Ellie can see a smile on her face, nodding at Joel before looking at Ellie.

She just chuckles, not really knowing what’s going on.

“There’s a really talented young woman here with me, someone very dear to me, and um”, Joel says, looking at Ellie and Dina, “She wrote a song, a pretty good one and before we wrap all of this up, I wanted to ask her to share it with all of you.”

Ellie’s eyes widen.

“What the fuck?”, she mutters under her breath, slowly shaking her head as she stares at Joel in horror. She turns her head to look at Dina.

“What did you do?”

Dina just smiles at her.

“I showed him your song”, she tells her, placing her arm around her, “He said he’d let you play it at the end if you’re up for it, the band knows the chords, they’ll play with you.”

Ellie keeps shaking her head in disbelief.

“No. Fuck no I’m not doing that”, she tells her, before looking back at Joel.

He steps down the stage as the crowd encourages him, making space for him to approach the pair.

Ellie stares at him with wide eyes, still shaking her head.

“Joel, no. Please.”

“Come on”, Joel says, holding the microphone away from them so only she can hear him, “I made an arrangement, we’ll play with you and everyone is gonna love it, your song is really good!”

“I can’t”, Ellie says, her body starting to shake as she feels everyone’s eyes on her.

“You can”, Joel insists, looking at her face and making sure she knows that he means it, “Trust me. You’re gonna nail this.”

“You can do it”, Dina tells her, rubbing her back reassuringly.

Ellie swallows hard.

Sing in front of all these people, sing her own song, the song that she wrote herself. 

The crowd starts to clap, trying to encourage her to agree when Joel holds the microphone in front of her, smiling like everything in the world is going to be okay.

She feels Dina’s hand on her shoulder, giving her a soft squeeze and sending shivers down her spine.

“Fuck”, Ellie mutters under her breath, but it’s still loud enough to be heard through the microphone. Closing her eyes for a short moment she slides down the barstool before grabbing the microphone.

“I hate you so much.”

“I know you do, kiddo.”

The crowd cheers as the two of them walk back towards the stage.

Ellie doesn’t even know where to look as she feels the warmth of the spotlight on her face. 

Why did she agree to do this?

She puts the microphone back into the holder in front of her when Joel gives her one of the spare guitars, an electronic one, before plugging the cable into the speaker.

“Here, sit down”, Joel tells her, making sure the microphone is turned away for now, “Just play your chords, we’ll be sticking to them as well.”

Ellie looks at him, her face like the one of a small and very lost child.

“I don’t even know if I can do it..”

“Don’t be scared.”

Joel places his hands on her shoulders, making sure she is looking right at him before he repeats himself.

“Don’t be scared.”

Ellie takes a deep breath before giving him a halfhearted nod.

“O-Okay..”

Joel returns the nod before he turns the microphone back towards her.

“Give it up for Ellie”, he announces her name, making the audience cheer for her.

Ellie wants to wave at them or to give them a little smile at least, but she’s just frozen in place, holding onto the guitar for dear life.

Joel makes his way to the back of the stage where the band is preparing themselves to play her song.

The audience is getting quiet, everyone waiting for the girl on stage to start.

Looking at all the expectant faces, Ellie doesn’t know how to act.

She can hear how the microphone catches her shaky breaths and the way her heart beats as if it’s about to tear itself out of her chest.

Her throat feels dry, her hands are sweaty and her knees feel like jelly.

Her eyes land on Dina who is still sitting at the bar. She gives her a thumbs up with an encouraging smile and it almost works. 

Ellie is still in disbelief that Dina actually did this. She must have talked to Joel right before the show to give him the song, it was her plan all along. For some reason it doesn’t feel like an evil plan in order to embarrass Ellie though, no. Ellie actually thinks that Dina genuinely believes in her and her talent. 

It has to be for a reason.

She completely forgot that she is still on stage with everyone waiting for her to do something, anything. 

It’s already been like thirty seconds of awkward silence, this is not what they signed up for.

Come on, Ellie. 

Just do it.

“ _I hate it when dudes try to chase me”,_ Ellie breathes out, still sounding a little shaky, 

“ _But I love it when you try to save me,_

_cause I’m just a lady._ ”

She can hear a whistle from the corner of the room, followed by one or two cheers.

“ _I love it when we play 1950._

_ It's so cold that your stare's 'bout to kill me, _

_ I'm surprised when you kiss me.” _

Ellie looks down at her guitar, strumming the strings for the first time as her fingers form an E-chord. 

“ _So tell me why my gods look like you”,_ she sings, this time with more control in her voice,

“ _And tell me why it's wrong.”_

She feels brave enough to face the audience now, leaning towards the microphone so her voice will be clear.

“ _So I'll wait for you, I'll pray,_

_ I will keep on waiting for your love, _

_ For you, I'll wait, _

_ I will keep on waiting for your..” _

Ellie holds the guitar, pausing the sound for a moment.

She is completely caught by surprise when she hears the people applauding and cheering for her.

This feels so surreal, what is even happening right now?

A little smile creeps on Ellie’s face as her chest fills with pride. 

They actually seem to like it, it’s going pretty well so far.

_“Did you mean it when you said I was pretty?_ ”, Ellie continues,

_ “That you didn't wanna live in a city, _

_ where the people are shitty?” _

Ellie sways with the rhythm, starting to feel herself a little more on stage.

“ _I like it when we play 1950,_

_ so bold, make them know that you're with me, _

_stone cold, will you miss me?_ ”

From the corner of her eye she can see Dina nodding to the song, encouraging Ellie even further.

She quickly moves closer to the microphone, closing her eyes as she concentrates on her voice.

_ “So tell me why my gods look like you.. _

_ And tell me why it's wrong..” _

She moves her head to the rhythm, keeping her eyes closed as she plays the chords almost subconsciously.

“ _So I'll wait for you, I'll pray,_

_ I will keep on waiting for your love, _

_ for you, I'll wait, _

_ I will keep on waiting for your..” _

People are clapping along, cheering her on, enjoying every single second of it. And Ellie catches herself doing exactly the same.

It’s a rush, a total rush of adrenaline and she likes it.

The feeling is almost indescribable.

“ _I hate it when dudes try to chase me._

_ I love it when you try to save me, _

_ cause I'm just a lady.” _

Ellie plays the chords as softly as possible.

“ _So tell me why my gods look like you.._

_ And tell me why it's wrong..” _

Deciding to ditch the guitar in the end, letting it hang down her body, she uses both hands to hold onto the microphone instead.

“ _So I'll wait for you, I'll pray,_

_ I will keep on waiting for your love,  _

_ for your love, for your love, for your love.. _

_ I'll wait, _

_ I will keep on waiting for your..” _

The band stops playing. The only thing that can be heard is Ellie’s heavy breathing before the crowd erupts in applause. 

Loud cheers and whistles make Ellie shake her head in disbelief, her hands covering her face in shock and surprise.

This has been the most surreal experience of her entire life.

“Ellie Williams, everyone”, she can hear Joel speak through the microphone, before feeling his arm around her shoulder, “Have a great night, until next time folks!”

He steps away from her, joining the applause as he smiles at her with pride in his eyes, almost making Ellie emotional. 

She is still shaking her head as she approaches him again, wanting to say something but just ends up giving him a hug instead when she can’t find her words.

“You did well”, he tells her, patting her back, “Really well.”

“Thank you”, Ellie says quietly, smiling at him before waving at the crowd who cheers in return.

Her eyes wander from the people to the counter to her right where she was sitting earlier, but Dina isn’t there anymore.

She can only see the curtain to the back of the stage swinging softly from being pushed aside probably a few moments ago.

Without wasting a second, Ellie takes the guitar off and puts it back in its stand before walking through the curtains in the back of the stage.

All the noise is more muted back here, but still very present, keeping Ellie’s high alive.

She can see Dina approaching her from the corner of the backstage area.

“That was amazing, Ellie!”, she tells her with a big smile, “I can’t believe how you were ever too shy to-..”

Ellie interrupts the other woman with a kiss on her lips, not even letting her finish her sentence. The adrenaline inside her seems to grow even more when she can feel Dina responding with a quiet, but pleased sigh.

When she pulls away she can see the surprised look on Dina’s face, which is now slightly blushing as well.

“Ellie..”

All of a sudden Ellie realizes what she just did, her eyes widening.

“Oh my god..”

Dina takes Ellie’s hands in her own and pulls her closer so her arms are wrapped around her waist before she leans in for another kiss.

Ellie’s eyes are still wide in shock when she feels Dina’s lips on her own, but she starts to close her eyes and melt into the kiss with her when she places her arms around Ellie’s neck and holds her close.

If she thought that her heart was gonna jump out when she was back on stage, it has to be close to exploding right now.

Dina is so close to her, she can tell with every sense. She can smell her, she can taste her, hear her ragged breathing on her skin, feel her body against hers.

Dina tilts her head to the side, just a little, and allows Ellie to deepen the kiss, letting out a short gasp when she feels her grip on her waist tighten and pulling her even closer.

Ellie’s whole body is on fire when Dina’s fingertips trail along her neck and her jawline, stroking her with her thumb.

Oh, god.

With one swift motion Dina takes one of Ellie’s hands from her waist and moves it right above her chest where a few of the buttons of her blouse are opened and she can feel her heartbeat against the warm skin.

Ellie is glad that she is not the only one who is in serious danger of having a heart attack.

They pull away from each other to breathe, resting their foreheads against one another.

Dina lets out a breathy chuckle, tilting her head to place a soft kiss on Ellie’s cheek.

Just when Ellie wants to lean in for another kiss, Dina takes a step back.

Ellie can see movement in the curtains to her left, turning around to see that Joel and the band are moving the instruments backstage. 

“Oh, hey Dina”, Joel greets her, putting one of the heavy speakers on the ground with a huff.

“Hi”, she says with a slightly awkward chuckle, before she turns her head to look back at Ellie.

“You were great”, she tells her, reaching for Ellie’s hands and holding them in her own again. 

Looking up from their hands at Dina’s face, Ellie’s smile starts to grow.

“Thank you..”

Dina returns that smile, tilting her head a little as they look at each other.

“Hey Joel, you two wanna stay for a round of drinks?”, one of the band guys asks, opening the curtains to leave the backstage area.

“Sure”, Joel tells him then turns towards the two girls, “Ellie, are you joining us?”

“I’ll be right there with you guys”, Ellie says, letting them leave before she turns back towards Dina.

“Do you wanna come with us?”

Dina shakes her head.

“Nah”, she tells her, running her hands up and down her arms, “You should spend the evening with them and Joel.”

“Okay”, Ellie says, shrugging softly and trying not to sound too disappointed.

“But I’ll be seeing you soon, I hope”, Dina says, running her hand along Ellie’s cheek before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “Maybe somewhere that’s not my workplace.”

Ellie chuckles, leaning into Dina’s touch.

“Maybe.. Are you free tomorrow? Or monday?”, Ellie asks and almost regrets it right afterwards in fear that she might sound too desperate.

“I’ll text you”, Dina says with a cheeky grin before she leans in to give her another short but sweet kiss, making Ellie blush again.

“Until then, Ellie Williams”, she says with a smirk, slowly moving away, but still keeping eye contact, “I can’t wait.”

Ellie chuckles at the woman’s bold flirtatiousness, nervously playing with her fingers.

“Me neither.”

With a salute and a clicking of her tongue Dina opens the curtains before she leaves the area. 

Ellie just keeps smiling to herself, looking at her hands and trying to recollect herself and everything that happened this evening.

Damn.

God damn.

Grinning to herself she skips towards the other side of the curtains where Joel and the others left so she can join them at their table, where some friendly faces and a beer mug are already waiting for her.

“Here you go”, Joel says, pushing the mug closer to her so she can grab it, “You deserve it. You did so well earlier.”

“Thanks”, Ellie says, taking a sip from the beer when the others fall back into the conversation they were in earlier.

She then places the mug back down and rests her chin on top of it, not being able to hide the grin on her face.

She can’t stop thinking about that kiss, about Dina.

God damn, indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used (Chapter 2)
> 
> “Future Days” - Pearl Jam (or Joel’s version, duh)
> 
> “Black Eyes” - Bradley Cooper
> 
> “Maybe it’s time” - Bradley Cooper
> 
> “1950” - King Princess


	3. Homegirls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three ready!!  
> Thank you so much for your sweet comments, they mean so much to me and really brighten my day! :)
> 
> The Last of Us really means a lot to me and I’m glad that this fanbase exists and keeps supporting each other, it’s a great thing. So excited to be getting my Ellie inspired Tattoo soon! 
> 
> Okay enough about myself, I hope you enjoy this chapter!!
> 
> (The songs I’m using are in the notes at the end so I don’t spoiler anything. I tried to time them so you can listen to them while you’re reading, so if you want to do that, go to the notes at the bottom :) )

“Look what Henry sent me earlier”, Joel says, placing two bowls of cereal on the table and ripping Ellie out of her morning grogginess.

“What?”

Ellie lifts her head, rubbing her eyes as she leans over towards Joel who is looking for something on his phone. 

“Here”, he says, holding the phone so Ellie can see a youtube video of herself performing her song on stage. 

“It already has a lot of views.”

“Who even recorded that?”, Ellie asks, pulling her cereal towards her. 

“I don’t know”, Joel says, “But seems like people actually really like it.”

Ellie keeps her eyes fixed on her bowl, not really paying a lot of attention.

“It’s not that much, calm down.”

Joel puts his phone away with a shrug.

“If you think so.”

They eat in a comfortable silence, both of them, and especially Ellie, still tired from the long night.

“So..”, Joel starts, looking down at his bowl to hide the small smile on his lips, “Dina, huh?”

Ellie skillfully ignores the teasing tone in his voice. 

“What about her?”

“That’s what I’m asking you.”

Ellie takes a short glance only to be met with the most bantering smirk she has ever seen on Joel’s face.

If only she could hide that damn blush forming on her face.

“I hate you so much.”

“Hey, I’m just asking”, Joel responds in defense, “I just noticed how you acted around each other yesterday and it got me curious.”

With a dismissive shake of her head, Ellie looks back at her breakfast.

“It was.. Nothing. I think.”

“Didn’t look like nothing to me.”

Ellie ignores it, hoping that he’ll just drop the topic and that he finally gets the point, but Joel keeps looking at her, clearly biting his tongue as he decides whether or not to speak.

“... Did the two of you.. You know.. 

“Okay, I’m out!”, she says, dropping her spoon before putting her hands down and getting up from the table, “You’re unbelievable.”

Before she can head upstairs to her room, her phone starts to ring, turning both their attention towards the device on the table.

“Who is it?”, Joel asks her as Ellie picks it up, looking at the caller ID on the screen.

“... Dina.”

Ellie wishes she could smack Joel for the stupid grin on his face, but instead she turns around and walks towards the couch to answer the call.

“Hey Dina”, she says with an obvious crack in her voice, “What’s up?”

“Hiii..”, the other woman answers and Ellie can practically hear the smile on her face, “Did I wake you up?”

“Hm, what?”, Ellie asks, more nervous than she expected herself to be, “No, no, um.. we were just having breakfast. You didn’t wake me up.”

“Okay, good”, Dina answers.

Ellie sits down on the couch, hoping it’ll calm her down.

Josie, who’s sitting right beside her, seems to notice the sudden excitement in Ellie’s body language and lifts her head to sniff her curiously.

Joel’s silent snickering doesn’t make it any better either. 

“I was just calling cause I have some great news for you!”, Dina continues, making Ellie raise a brow as she tries to keep the dog away from her face.

“What news? Down, Josie..!”

“A friend of mine, his name is Jesse, he’s in a band with two other guys and he has a gig this week in Austin.”

A friend of hers, huh?

“Their guitarist got sick, he can’t come with them and Jesse’s desperate for somebody who could fill in and play”, Dina continues, “This show is a big opportunity for them, so I told them I know a gal.”

“Okay”, Ellie says with a nod.

“.. You know I’m talking about you, right?”, Dina makes sure, chuckling softly. 

Ellie leans back against the pillows, rubbing the back of her head. 

“Damn..”, she mutters quietly, “.. And he’s okay with me? I mean, he doesn’t even know me.”

“He trusts me”, Dina says, “He texted me earlier and I immediately thought about you. If you fill in as their guitarist they’ll also let you perform one or two of your own songs.”

That’s actually a big fucking opportunity.

Ellie doesn’t know what to say.

“I don’t know, Dina..”, Ellie tells her, “I have never really been on stage. Last night was the first time and you saw how nerve-wracking it was for me.”

“Come on, Ellie. Pleeeaaaase”, Dina begs in a playfully childish voice, making Ellie chuckle, “I’ll come with you guys and I’ll be right there with you. Just like I was yesterday.”

“Just like yesterday, huh?”, Ellie mumbles quietly as her thoughts drift back to last night. The way she felt on stage, Dina’s reassuring looks and the kiss. 

Damn, that kiss. 

“Well..”, Ellie continues, “.. Do you want me to meet him first or..?”

“So you’re doing it??”

“Yeah, I guess that means I’m doing it.”

“Doing what?”, Joel mouths from the table, now paying even more attention.

“Yes! That’s awesome!”, Dina cheers from the other side of the phone, “We’re meeting this Wednesday morning to drive to Austin together and we’re going back home the next day. We had two hotel rooms booked anyway so we’ll stay there one night. I was supposed to share a room with Jesse but now that one of the guys won’t be there, he’ll share with Sam instead so we can have one together.”

She was supposed to share a room with Jesse? Are they like.. a thing?

Or maybe they WERE. 

“Alright”, Ellie says with a nod even though Dina can’t see it, “I’ll see you guys then.”

“I’m so excited!”, Dina tells her, “I don’t wanna disturb you and Joel any further so-..”

“Dina?”, Ellie interrupts her, smacking her face as instant regret hits her immediately.

“Yeah?”

Ellie takes a deep breath before closing her eyes.

“Are you.. Um, do you wanna meet again before Wednesday?”, she asks carefully, hating herself for how nervous she sounds, “I don’t know if you are free or if you have to work or.. yeah.”

“Aw, I would have loved to”, Dina tells her, “I’m just out of town until Tuesday. I’m visiting my sister Talia in Ohio. It’s kind of a ritual thing around the same time every year so.. I’m actually leaving today. If I wasn’t busy packing I would have asked you in person if you wanted to come to Austin with us.”

“Oh, that’s cool”, Ellie says with another unnecessary nod, “Cool, cool. I mean, we’ll be seeing each other on Wednesday, am I right?”

“Yeah, it won’t be too long”, Dina agrees with her, “Hopefully.”

“Yeah, hopefully..”, Ellie says, a small smile forming, “Well, you should get ready. I’ll see you soon!”

“See you soon, Ellie”, Dina says, “Byeee.”

“Bye.”

Ellie puts her phone away, looking to her right where Josie and Joel are both sitting next to her and looking at her.

She didn’t even notice when Joel actually got there.

“.. What are you two looking at?”

-

Wednesday arrives faster than expected, especially when you have to write another song in that short time.

She didn’t HAVE to write a song of course, she could have played 1950 or maybe one or two covers, but Joel really wanted her to try at least.

“Songs give you a voice”, he told her, “They give you a way to convey a message to anyone, whether it’s the whole world or just one person. And you don’t get a chance to actually present that message any day.”

With Joel’s support Ellie actually managed to write another song of her own that she could play. If she wants to perform it though, she is not so sure yet. 

She’ll decide when it’s time.

“You really didn’t have to drive me, you know?”, Ellie tells Joel when they reach the address Dina sent her earlier, “I could have taken the bus or something.”

“I know”, Joel says, “But I wanted to.”

Joel parks the car in front of a house where three other young people are talking to each other, one of them being Dina.

“This should be right”, Joel says as he opens the door to exit the car.

Ellie gets out as well, approaching Joel at the back of the car where he opens the trunk.

“There you go”, he mutters as he gives her two bags, “Clothes and guitar.”

“Thanks”, Ellie says before she turns around to see Dina walking towards the two of them.

“You found it!”, she says with a big smile on her face, “Hey.”

She greets Ellie with a big hug, making Ellie smile softly.

“Hey..”

Dina pulls away to shake Joel’s hand.

“Hi, Joel!”

“How are you doing, Dina”, Joel says as he shakes Dina’s hand, “All ready to go?”

“Yeah”, Dina says, resting her hands on her hips, “Everything’s in Jesse’s truck and ready to go.”

“Nice”, Ellie says with an awkward nod, trying to avoid Joel’s look in fear that he might be mocking her again.

“Well..”, Joel mutters before taking a few steps back towards the car door, “Let me know if I have to pick you up, alright kiddo?”

“Hm? Yeah, sure”, Ellie says before stepping away from the car. 

“Have a good time, girls!”, Joel says with a small wave before stepping into his vehicle.

“Byeee!”, Dina says as she waves back.

She places her arm around Ellie and walks her to the house, letting her put her things into the trunk as they pass the truck on their way.

“There she is!”, someone calls from the porch, making Ellie turn her head, “Our guitarist!”

“This is Ellie”, Dina tells the two guys as they approach them.

“Hey”, she greets them with a short wave and a crooked smile.

She can see how excited Dina is to introduce her to her friends.

“Nice to meet you, Ellie”, one of the guys says, catching her hand midair with a firm handshake, “I’m Jesse. I play keyboard and I also sing. This is Sam. He’s our drummer.”

He mentions towards the other guy next to him who holds out his hand as well.

“What’s up.”

“Hi, Sam”, Ellie greets him as well before putting her hands into her pockets, not really knowing how to act.

She’s never really been a people person before. In school she mostly stuck to herself, made a friend or two at different places, but being moved around in the foster system almost regularly, she never made a wide circle of friends.

“Soooo..”, Jesse starts, noticing that Ellie doesn’t seem to be a big fan of small talk, “Wanna get going?”

“Sure!”, Dina says, “Let’s go.”

They walk towards the truck and enter it with Jesse and Sam in the front and Dina and Ellie in the back. 

Sam gives everyone a bottle of water before turning on the radio as Jesse starts the car.

“So Dina”, Jesse starts as he pulls out of the parking space, “How’s Talia doing? How was the trip?”

Dammit, Ellie should have asked her about that.

Why didn’t she ask her about that?

“Oh, it was nice!”, Dina says, leaning towards the middle of the backseat so she can have a better look at the guys in the front, “The flight was really chill and we had like two full days together to do whatever we want. It was really sweet.”

“Didn’t she move recently? If I remember correctly you told me about it.”

“Yeah, she moved out of the dorm into her own apartment, it’s really nice!”

Seems like Jesse knows her pretty well.

Ellie wishes she could just join their conversation, but it almost seems too intimate to interrupt.

They probably have known each other for a long time.

Instead Ellie looks out of the window to watch the scenery passing by. In the middle of July the weather is always nice, it’s a beautiful morning.

It’s been a while since she’s been in Austin, she is pretty excited, but she’d lie if she said she wasn’t nervous at all.

She’ll be playing in front of a big audience tonight, playing her own songs.

It’s terrifying. 

She just hopes that she won’t disappoint Jesse and Sam, she wants to give her best.

“Ellie?”

“Hm?”

Ellie turns away from the window, looking from Jesse to Dina, then back at Jesse.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

Jesse chuckles.

“No worries. Was that Joel Miller earlier? The one who dropped you off?”

“Oh, um yes”, Ellie says with a nod, “I live with him.”

“Joel Miller is your dad?”, Sam asks, his eyes wide.

“Nah”, Ellie explains, “He started fostering me when I was younger and I stayed.”

“Ah.”

“That’s interesting”, Jesse says, “Damn. I used to listen to his music a lot when I was younger, my parents were big Without Dignity fans. Every single car ride they’d play their albums.”

“Poor boy”, Ellie says with a small chuckle, making the others laugh as well.

“Another thing”, Jesse says, “Dina showed me the video of your performance yesterday.”

Ellie looks over at Dina who just grins at her.

“You wrote that yourself? It’s a really good song!”

Ellie smiles.

“Well, mostly. Dina kinda co-wrote it.”

“I sure did, don’t forget about that. EVER”, Dina tells them.

“Niiice”, Jesse acknowledges with an impressed face, “I bet everyone is gonna love it.”

“I hope so”, Ellie mutters quietly, turning her head to look out of the window again, but Dina stops her by placing her hand on Ellie’s leg, making her freeze.

“They will”, Dina says, smiling at Ellie with the purest and most sincere smile, making the other woman melt.

“Oh well, oh well, look at that!”, Sam interrupts them as he turns up the radio, “Joel Miller in the house!”

“Oh, hell yeah”, Jesse says as he nods to the music before he sings along, mimicking Joel’s voice so accurately that it almost scares Ellie.

“ _Maybe it's time to let the old ways die,_

_maybe it's time to let the old ways die.._ ”

Sam moves along, joining the song with his own Joel impression.

“ _It takes a lot to change a man_

_ Hell, it takes a lot to try, _

_maybe it's time to let the old ways die._ ”

The whole car bursts into laughter, Ellie included.

-

The car ride doesn’t take too long and before anyone could get bored, they reach Austin. Jesse parks the car in front of a hotel, before getting out to get their stuff from the trunk.

“Everybody out, I’m not carrying your shit!”

Ellie steps out, going to the back to take her bag of clothes and the guitar, looking up at the building in front of her.

“Let’s go inside!”, Sam tells them, walking to the entrance with everyone else following him.

After checking in and getting the keys for their rooms, they make their way through the hallway to look for the right doors.

“344 and 345, should be around the corner”, Jesse says, putting his heavy bag down when they finally reach their rooms.

“Alright”, Dina says, using the key to open the door right next to him with Ellie behind her, “We’ll see you guys in a few hours! Gotta make sure everyone is well rested and a little less sweaty when we’re leaving!”

“Nice of you to be so self-reflective”, Jesse teases her, before stepping into the room with Sam following her, “Let us know when you’re ready.”

With an eye roll and a small smirk Dina walks into their room, holding the door open for Ellie so she can maneuver her bags better.

“Thanks”, she says, putting everything down before she steps further inside to have a look around.

Two beds. 

Ellie doesn’t know whether she should be relieved or disappointed.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower, is that okay?”, Dina asks, taking her jacket off and throwing it over her bag before she walks into the bathroom.

“Yup, I’ll wait”, Ellie tells her, taking her guitar from where she put it and walking to one of the beds.

The bathroom door closes and once she can hear the water running, Ellie knows that she is safe now.

She takes the guitar out of the bag and starts to play a random melody, she is way too nervous to take a nap anyway.

So Jesse and Dina would have stayed in this room together. They booked two beds so they weren’t dating, right? At least she knows that they aren’t at the moment. But that would be weird anyway, Dina wouldn’t have kissed her back then. She’s not that kind of person.

Does he know what happened between them? Did she tell him? Did Ellie make things weird between them if he knows? And if he doesn’t, would he be mad at her? Or even worse, at Dina?

Too many things are running through her mind, she has to force herself to relax and calm down. 

But what about her song?

If all of this concerns her this much, is it really the best idea to let everybody have a look at a piece of her mind? To be vulnerable?

Vulnerability can be dangerous, Ellie is very aware of that. 

But really, is it always such a bad thing?

-

“Guilty pleasure?”, Jesse asks, scratching his chin as he seems to be thinking hard, “Hm.. Okay. I know it’s embarrassing but I’m proud to admit that I like roleplaying games. I played a lot of D&D when I was in high school.”

Jesse keeps walking, making his way through the backstage area towards the loud noise from the audience.

“Yeaahh, I wasn’t the most popular kid.”

“Tell me about it”, Ellie says with a chuckle, nudging his arm playfully. Jesse smiles at her, raising his eyebrow.

“What about you?”, he asks, “You haven’t told us yours yet.”

Ellie shakes her head, trying to avoid his look.

“Naahh, I don’t feel like sharing..”

“Come on!”, Sam says, turning around to look at the both of them as he continues to walk, just backwards, “We all did. Jesse was a huge fucking nerd as a kid, I’m way too invested in WWE, Dina imagines her life as a musical, how much worse can it get?”

“Um, excuse me”, Dina interferes, raising her hand, “Imagining your life as a musical isn’t actually such an unusual thing.”

“Yeah, whatever makes you happy”, Jesse mumbles with a smirk, well aware that she heard it.

“But still though”, Dina says, making a few quick steps so she is walking besides Ellie, “It’s your turn now. Guilty pleasure, go!”

“Noooo”, Ellie groans, closing her eyes, “It’s too embarrassing, really.”

“Just get it out!”, Jesse says, “We won’t judge.”

“Yeah, no judging in the band”, Sam adds.

Ellie chuckles, looking at the expectant faces before letting out a defeated sigh.

“Okay..”, she says quietly, “Well, sometimes.. I really enjoy listening to Shania Twain music. Without any irony. I really like it.”

The others stay quiet for a while, letting her dangle for a moment, until Sam places his hand on her shoulder and looks into her eyes.

“Welcome to our loser club.”

The noise gets louder the closer they get to the stage. With every step they take, Ellie’s pulse seems to rise even more. 

Taking a little peek, she can see the crowd in front of the stage and it doesn’t help her nervousness at all.

“Oh fuck..”, she mutters under her breath, taking a few steps back where she feels save again.

“Okay, this is how we’re gonna do it”, Jesse says, forming a small circle with the others, “Everyone has a setlist at their place. We’ll open the show with ‘Teeth’ like we always do. You read the sheets, right Ellie?”

“Yeah”, she says with a nod, “I can play every song and I know the lyrics, I listened to them.”

“Good”, Jesse says, “Feel free to sing the harmonies, I know you have a good voice.”

Ellie feels Dina’s hand gently rubbing her upper back, making her smile a little.

“You said you want to play your song in the end, not the beginning. Is that still so?”

“Yes”, she says, “I’d rather get used to everything first. I think that’ll help.”

“Makes sense”, Sam says with a nod.

“Alright everyone”, Jesse says, “Let’s do this.”

He holds his fist in the middle for everyone to bump it before he looks at the backstage crew, who nod knowingly.

“Here we go.”

The lights go dark, announcing the start of the concert and making the crowd cheer loudly, excited for what’s to come.

Ellie swallows hard.

This is happening. The first time she has ever played in front of such a big audience. While the bar where Joel usually plays fits about sixty to seventy people at the maximum, this venue allows around two to three thousand people to watch the show. 

And it is sold out.

Dina notices Ellie’s tension and carefully pulls her towards her.

“Hey”, she says, rubbing her hands along her arms, “You can do this. Once you’ll start, you never want to stop. I’ll stay right here and watch the whole show. Remember that.”

As if that would make things easier for Ellie.

Before she knows it, Jesse and Sam walk on stage towards their instruments, making her stumble after them as quickly as possible.

Her guitar, on the right side of the stage, that’s where she has to go.

She can see Jesse’s silhouette in front of the keyboard, looking to his left to give Sam a nod, before turning to his right to look at Ellie.

She picks the guitar up, letting it hang around her shoulders before returning the nod.

She’s ready. As ready as she can be. 

The sound of a rhythmic bass line makes the crowd cheer louder as the lights slowly start to illuminate Jesse in the front.

The girls in the front row go crazy when they see him, squealing and holding out their hands to reach the stage, but Jesse stays calm, concentrating on the instrument.

“ _Some days, you're the only thing I know._

_ Only thing that's burning when the nights grow cold, _

_ can’t look away, can't look away. _

_Beg you to stay, beg you to stay, yeah.._ ”

He looks up up now, facing the audience.

“ _Sometimes, you're a stranger in my bed._

_ Don't know if you love me or you want me dead, _

_ push me away, push me away, _

_ then beg me to stay, beg me to stay, yeah.” _

The lights get brighter, now shining on Sam and Ellie as well.

Ellie starts playing her guitar, watching how the people in front of her whistle and cheer.

“ _Call me in the morning to apologize!_

_ Every little lie gives me butterflies! _

_ Something in the way you're looking through my eyes, _

_ Don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive! _

_ Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet, _

_ Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth, _

_ Late night devil, put your hands on me, _

_And never, never, never ever let go!_ ”

Ellie leans closer to the microphone and starts to sing along, earning an impressed smile from Jesse. 

“ _Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet,_

_ Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth, _

_ Late night devil, put your hands on me, _

_And never, never, never ever let go!_ ”

The sound of the music, the vibrating bass, the cheering crowd who sings along.

All of a sudden it feels like all her nervousness, all the doubt she had in herself, it is all gone.

This feels so easy now, how is it suddenly so easy?

Ellie moves her foot to the rhythm, finally relaxed enough to actually move a little.

“ _Call me in the morning to apologize!_

_ Every little lie gives me butterflies! _

_ Something in the way you're looking through my eyes, _

_Don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive!_ ”

Ellie leans into her guitar as she plays the riff, enjoying how the people seem to cheer her on.

“ _Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet,_

_ Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth, _

_ Late night devil, put your hands on me, _

_And never, never, never ever let go!_ ”

Ellie grins at Jesse as they sing together, really feeling herself now.

“ _Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet,_

_ Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth, _

_ Late night devil, put your hands on me, _

_And never, never, never ever let go!_ ”

-

Ellie wipes the sweat from Her forehead after she plays the last chord, smiling when the applause hits her.

The same rush she experienced the first time she was on stage is back and it hits even harder than before.

“Thank you, everyone! You’ve been amazing tonight!”, Jesse speaks into the microphone, taking it out of the stand before he walks over to Ellie. 

“As you have probably noticed, we have a very talented woman here who could fill in for Mason today and I’m sure we couldn’t have found anyone better.”

Ellie smiles, waving at the crowd which answers with more applause.

“If you haven’t heard of her yet, her name is Ellie Williams and she writes her own songs. One of them is currently trending on YouTube, so I really recommend that you go and check it out later on!”

Ellie turns her head when she hears a loud whistle coming from the backstage area to her right where Dina is still standing and smiling at her, making Ellie blush a little.

“The last song today will be one of her songs so please give it up for her, Ellie Williams everybody.”

With that he walks back to the middle of the stage and moves his keyboard aside, so Ellie can stand in the center.

She waves again, taking the microphone when Jesse hands it to her and puts it back in the stand. 

“Hey everyone”, she greets the crowd with a smile, “The song I’ll be playing is called ‘Homegirl’ and yeah.. I hope you had a good night. I hope I can end it on a nice note.”

Yes, she’s gonna sing the new song. She had to.

She looks down at the neck of the guitar, forming a C-chord before taking a deep breath, closing her eyes to really sink into the song.

Her heart is beating like crazy, she knows that Dina is right there and watching her.

She doesn’t even care about the audience anymore, but what will she think?

“ _They stare, when you walk in the room, like they're looking at Heaven.._ ”, she starts to sing, keeping her voice soft,

“ _Oh you know that those boys will do more than just look if you let 'em._.”

Except for a few whistles, the crowd is mostly quiet, allowing everyone and including Ellie, to feel every single word.

“ _And I don't wanna be like them.._

_ with you.. _

_ But you still look at me, _

_like him_..”

Ellie opens her eyes, looking down at the guitar as she picks up the pace of her strums.

“ _And you taste like danger but I feel so safe in your arms_.”

Ellie’s body sways with the music.

“ _And I like the way that you talk, slow,_

_ Spelling my name with your tongue, so, _

_ You don't have to say it. _

_We're friends at the party, I'll give you my body at home_.”

She lets out a heavy breath, before humming softly.

If only she could see Dina’s expression from the side of the stage, but she doesn’t dare to look.

“ _Well I stare when you walk in the room, like I'm scared to forget you_ ”, she keeps singing, smiling to herself and earning a few more cheers and whistles, especially from the front,

_“If you're thinking that I'm gonna act like those boys, I would never._ ”

She looks up from her guitar, watching the audience which almost looks like it’s swaying with her.

_ “But I don't wanna be like them,  _

_ with you.. _

_ But you still look at me.. _

_ like him..” _

Ellie gathers all her courage as she strums the guitar.

_ “And you taste like danger but I feel so safe in your arms.” _

This time she glances at Dina, almost forgetting to breathe correctly when their eyes meet, before she closes them again.

“ _And I like the way that you talk, slow,_

_ Spelling my name with your tongue, so, _

_ You don't have to say it. _

_ We're friends at the party, I'll give you my body at home.” _

-

“Here we go..”

Dina opens the door to their room, stepping inside and putting her things down.

Ellie walks over to one of the beds, leaning the guitar against the mattress before taking off her jacket.

This night was crazy. The concert was amazing, the feeling to be on stage is almost addictive and Ellie knows that she is hooked.

After her song, Jesse finished the concert and they got ready to go back to the hotel.

Dina didn’t say anything about Ellie’s song, except that it was really good and she performed it perfectly. 

What if she didn’t feel the same way? Or did she even notice that this song was about her? Damn, of course she noticed, they fucking looked at each other during the song, it was really obvious.

On their way back they didn’t mention the tension between them, even Jesse and Sam stayed quiet even though they knew that something was going on.

Ellie is just glad that they are back at the hotel and that she can finally relax a bit. 

Before she can even lay down to start the relaxing part, she feels Dina’s body against her back, her arms wrapped around Ellie’s waist and her head resting against her shoulder.

“Dina?”

Ellie stops breathing for a second, swallowing hard when she can feel Dina’s breath against her neck.

Oh lord. 

Ellie tries to turn her head to face her, not completely sure what Dina is trying to accomplish right now. She doesn’t want to misread the situation and make her uncomfortable in any way.

The room is still dark, but the light of the street lamps shining through the window illuminate Dina’s face just enough.

She looks at Ellie with big eyes as she runs her hands up and down Ellie’s arms, giving her goosebumps.

Then she starts to lean in, slowly filling the gap between them and gives her a soft kiss. It’s gentle and sweet, giving Ellie butterflies.

She places her hand on the side of her face, holding her as they kiss. 

Dina looks at Ellie again and there is something in her eyes. It’s like she is trying to get Ellie to do something, to do more.

So Ellie does more.

Closing her eyes this time, Ellie kisses her again, moving her hands from her face to her waist and pulling her closer. 

Dina lets out a little sigh, holding onto Ellie’s shoulder as she deepens the kiss. 

She moves even closer until their bodies are pressed against each other, before she tilts her head a little to give Ellie more access. 

Ellie sees this as an invitation to kiss her a little rougher, receiving a needy groan in reward which encourages her even more.

She feels how Dina seems to slowly push her backwards onto the mattress, where the woman climbs on top of her, never breaking the kiss.

She’s really going for it.

Ellie’s heart is pounding and every part of her body feels like it’s pulsating when Dina sits up and takes Ellie’s hands with her, urging her to take her top off. 

“Are you sure?”, Ellie says, panting heavily, her breath completely stolen as she tries her best to get rid of the fog of lust that is starting to cloud her sense of right and wrong.

“Yes”, Dina says quietly, still holding Ellie’s hands and using them to push up her shirt, “Please..”

She doesn’t waste a second to accommodate her wish, pulling Dina’s top up and over her head, before she throws it aside.

In her eyes Dina looks like an absolute goddess, the way the light shines on her body, the softness of her skin, the little noises she makes. 

She thinks she might actually believe in some sort of higher power if a woman like that exist.

Dina reaches behind her back to take her bra off before she pulls Ellie closer to kiss her again, slowly pushing her down onto the mattress to open the buttons on Ellie’s shirt, grinning when she can see the goosebumps on her stomach.

Ellie feels like her whole body is on fire when Dina trails her fingers down her stomach, across her bellybutton until she reaches her jeans and starts to undo her belt.

“Let me help you”, Ellie mutters shakily as she reaches for the buckle, but Dina keeps her hands away.

“No, I wanna do this, just relax.”

Within a few seconds Dina manages to open her pants, running her thumb along the hem of Ellie’s underwear. Ellie nods at her, almost desperate for the other girl to keep going and gives her the last bit of reassurance that she needed. 

In one swift motion she pulls her pants and underwear down her legs before taking them off completely. 

Dina kneels at the edge of the bed, running her hands up Ellie’s thighs. Before Ellie can even lift her head to see what is happening, her whole body freezes and she struggles to breathe, letting her head fall back onto the mattress and humming contently. 

There has to be a god, cause Ellie knows for sure that she has just entered heaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs used (Chapter 3)
> 
> “Teeth - Live From The Vault” - 5 Seconds of Summer
> 
> “Homegirl” - King Princess

**Author's Note:**

> Songs used (Chapter 1)
> 
> “Maybe it’s Time” - Bradley Cooper


End file.
